Suphachai Chearavanont

CEO, Charoen Pokphand Group

Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont is the Chief Executive Officer of Charoen Pokphand Group (C.P. Group), one of Asia’s leading conglomerates that consists of over 100 companies operating in 21 countries in agri-food, retail and telecommunications. He also serves as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of True Corporation (listed on the Thai Stock Exchange), where he was previously President and Chief Executive Officer, and oversees group-wide strategies on sustainability policies and corporate communications.

Mr. Chearavanont has been a member of the Thai Government’s Independent Committee for Educational Reform since May 2017 and Chairperson for the United Nations Global Compact Network Thailand since 2016. In 2013, he helped launch Thailand’s first telecommunications infrastructure fund (Digital Infrastructure Fund) and established True’s CSR initiative that helped deliver education to underprivileged children in 6,000 schools in rural areas of Thailand.

In 2015 he was awarded “Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Telecom CEO of the Year” at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards and also elected President of the Telecommunications Association of Thailand appointed under The Royal Patronage. He was appointed a Counselor and Advisory Board Member for One Young World Summit 2015.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration focusing on Financial Management from Boston University, and awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Mass Communications from Ramkhamhaeng University in March 2016.

Magdi Batato

Executive Vice President & Head of Operations, Nestlé

Born in 1959 in Egypt, Magdi Batato is a Swiss national. He holds a PhD in Thermodynamics from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), a degree from INSEAD in Manufacturing and completed the Executive Development Program (PED) of IMD Lausanne. Magdi Batato has worked as Assistant Professor and lecturer at the EPFL and Technicom in Bienne as well as Project Engineer in an engineering consultancy firm in Lausanne (Bonnard & Gardel), before joining Nestle in Switzerland in 1991 as Engineer in Industrial Services, Energy &. Environment. His Factory and Production Management experiences took him to Germany, Lebanon and South Africa. In 2004, Magdi Batato was transferred to Malaysia as Executive Director of Production. In 2009, Magdi Batato moved to Nestle UK & Ireland as Head of Group Technical before taking over the position of Market Head Pakistan in May 2012. On 1 October 2015, Magdi Batato returned to Vevey upon his appointment as Executive Vice President, Nestle S.A., and Head of Operations. As such he is responsible for Procurement, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality Management, Agriculture, Safety &. Health, Environmental Sustainability and Operations Performance.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala

Chairman and CEO, Ayala Corporation

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is the Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation, one of the largest business groups in the Philippines, with interests in real estate, banking, telecommunications, water, power, industrial technologies, infrastructure, healthcare, and education. Outside the Ayala group, he is a member of various business and socio-civic organizations in the Philippines and abroad, including the JP Morgan International Council, JP Morgan Asia Pacific Council, Mitsubishi Corporation International Advisory Council, and Council on Foreign Relations.

He sits on the board of the Singapore Management University and on various advisory boards of Harvard University, including the Global Advisory Council, HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors, and HBS Asia-Pacific Advisory Board, which he chairs. He is Chairman of Endeavor Philippines, Chairman Emeritus of the Asia Business Council, and was the Philippine Representative to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council from 2010-2015.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2009, the Philippine Legion of Honor with rank of Grand Commander in 2010, and the Order of Mabini with rank of Commander in 2015 by the President of the Philippines. In 2017, he was recognized as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer for his work in sustainable business strategy and operations. The first SDG Pioneer from the Philippines, he was one of 10 individuals recognized for championing sustainability and the pursuit of the 17 SDGs in business.

He received his BA in Economics (cum laude) from Harvard University in 1981 and MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1987.

Gilbert Ghostine

CEO, Firmenich

Gilbert joined Firmenich in October 2014 as the Group’s first non-family member CEO. Building on the Firmenich legacy, Gilbert is firmly focused on raising the bar across the Group’s key competencies in order to create value for its customers and delight consumers worldwide. In doing so, he is driving world-class Research, Creativity, and Customer focus across the organization, while keeping the Company’s culture firmly anchored in its core values, at the heart of the Group’s success since its creation in 1895. Making a positive contribution to his Community has always been a personal priority for Gilbert. That’s why he places sustainability at the core of the Group’s strategy. Today, he is putting Firmenich’s expertise to work to address some of the world’s greatest challenges, such as Hygiene and Sanitation or Health and Nutrition. Prior to joining Firmenich, Gilbert spent 21 years with Diageo. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon as well as followed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. A Lebanese national, Gilbert is married with two children and is fluent in three languages.

Robert Swaak

Global Relationship Partner, PwC Netherlands

Robert Swaak is serving as a Global Relationship Partner and responsible for a number of our Global clients. He also leads our efforts on PwC’s relationship with the World Economic Forum and WBCSD.

Prior to this role, he was the Global Clients, Industries and Sectors leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited and a member of PwC’s Global Management Team. He oversaw PwC’s market strategy in industries and sectors, and was responsible for setting PwC’s client delivery vision and strategy. With an interest and background in leadership and human capital development, Robert made it his responsibility to ensure PwC’s 208,000 professionals in 157 countries were ready to help our Global clients with solutions to their most important issues.

Earlier, Robert was COO, CFO and then Territory Senior Partner of PwC in the Netherlands, as well as a member of PwC’s International Strategy Council. With over 25 years of experience with PwC, Robert has served as lead adviser for a wide variety of clients from large multinational companies, to privately owned businesses and the public sector from communications to consumer products sectors. He is a qualified public accountant and has a Masters in Corporate Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Jacques van den Broek

CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, Randstad

Jacques van den Broek has been appointed CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Randstad Holding NV in March 2014. He is responsible for operations in the UK and Germany as well as for Business Concept Development, HR, IT, Marketing & Communications and Public Affairs.

Jacques graduated in law at Tilburg University and briefly held a management position at Vendex International before joining Randstad as a branch manager in 1988. Over the years he has held various management positions at Randstad, including Regional Director in the Netherlands and Marketing Director Europe. In 2001 he became CEO of newmonday.com and in 2002 he was appointed Managing Director of Capac Inhouse Services (now called Randstad Inhouse Services). At the time he was also responsible for Randstad Denmark and Switzerland.

Jacques van den Broek joined the Executive Board in January 2004. Since then Jacques has been responsible for the significant boost of our global accounts which yield approximately 25% of Group revenue. He led the integration of major operations after the Vedior merger, including the one in France.

Jacques van den Broek is married and has two sons. He enjoys playing sports – soccer, running, golf – as well as art, and he collects original comic books.

Masami Yamamoto

Chairman, Fujitsu Ltd

Mr. Masami Yamamoto serves as the Chairman of Fujitsu Limited and has been its Corporate Executive Officer since February 1, 2016. Mr. Yamamoto served as the President of Fujitsu Limited since April 1, 2010. He served as Corporate Senior Executive Vice President of Fujitsu Ltd. until April 1, 2010. He served as Corporate Senior Vice President of Fujitsu Ltd. since June 22, 2007. Mr. Yamamoto served as Corporate Vice President of Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited. He served as Corporate Vice President of Fujitsu Ltd until June 22, 2007. He serves as a Director of Fujitsu Technology Solutions (Holding) B.V. Mr. Yamamoto served as a Director at Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. since April 2010. He has been a Representative Director of Fujitsu Limited since June 2010.

Toni Townes-Whitley

President, US Regulated Industries, Microsoft

As president of US Regulated Industries at Microsoft, Toni Townes-Whitley leads the US sales strategy for driving digital transformation across customers and partners within the public sector and regulated industries. With responsibility for the 2000+ sales organization and ~$11B P&L, she is one of the leading women at Microsoft, and in the technology industry, with a strong track record for accelerating profitable business performance and building high-performance teams.

Her organization is responsible for executing on Microsoft’s industry strategy and go-to-market for both public sector and regulated industries in the United States, including Education, Financial Services, Government, and Health. In addition to leading this team, Townes-Whitley drives the formulation of Microsoft’s AI National Plans around the world and represents the global salesforce on Microsoft’s Aether Committee (AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research) – a Board created to recommend policies and procedures that address the implications and opportunities of AI on society.

Passionate about leveraging technology to create positive societal and global impact, Townes-Whitley represents Microsoft at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). In this capacity, she works with CEOs from each industry to address global issues around urbanization, climate change, and workforce readiness. Toni’s external efforts align to her innovation within Microsoft, specifically in the creation of a Digital Leadership vision and narrative that extends the company’s focus beyond customer transformation to responsible and principled implementation of technology and inclusive transformation for every person and organization on the planet.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Townes-Whitley was president of CGI Federal, where she was responsible for a portfolio of more than $1 billion, leading 6,600 employees in more than 70 countries to deliver greater value to US Government civilian, defense, and intelligence sectors. Prior to her role at CGI, Townes-Whitley held several management roles at Unisys Corporation leading global, public sector systems integration and the Federal Civilian group, where she achieved 500 percent revenue growth and doubled profitability.

Townes-Whitley is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and has received certifications from Wharton Executive Education, New York University (NYU), and the Performance Management Institute. A writer and presenter on topics of IT innovation in society, she has delivered presentations most recently with Gender Fair (TED Talk), Stanford University, INSEAD, United Nations Council on Women, World Economic Forum, White House Refugee “Call to Action”, GlobeSec, and numerous other industry client and partner organizations.

Townes-Whitley is co-executive sponsor for the Blacks and Africans Employee Resource Group at Microsoft. She sits on the board of directors for the United Way (King County), is an advisor to the Women’s Center of Northern Virginia, and a past president of Women in Technology. She has helped to launch new initiatives for Microsoft with the Athena Alliance—an organization that prepares women for corporate board roles; and Gender Fair, a new movement to logo companies with equitable pay and progressive programs for women. Townes-Whitley continues to support the US Peace Corps for which she volunteered for three years as a village teacher in Gabon (Central Africa). She is married to John H. Whitley. The couple reside in Mclean, VA. They have five children and are awaiting their fifth grandchild.

Ana Botín

Executive Chairman, Banco Santander

Ana Botín was appointed Executive Chairman of Banco Santander in September 2014. Since then, she has led a cultural and commercial transformation of the bank, helping Santander become one of the most profitable and efficient banks in the world, serving over 140 million customers across Europe and the Americas.

Under her leadership, Santander has embedded a clear purpose across the bank: to help people and businesses prosper. This, combined with the bank’s leadership in digital innovation and strong commitment to responsible banking, helped Santander meet the three-year targets it set in 2015 – growing revenues; becoming one of the most profitable and efficient banks among its global peers; and achieving a top-3 ranking for customer satisfaction in the majority of its markets. At the same time, Santander was ranked third in the world among banks – and number one in Europe – in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Ana began her career at JPMorgan in New York, before joining Santander in 1988. She led the Group’s expansion in Latin America, before becoming Chief Executive of Banesto in Spain in 2002. In 2010 she was appointed CEO of Santander UK, where she led the transformation of three former building societies into one of Britain’s most innovative banks.

She is the founder and Chair of Fundacion CyD, which supports the contribution made by universities to economic and social development in Spain, and Empieza por Educar, the Spanish affiliate of Teach for All, which trains talented graduates to become teachers.

Ms Botin earned her BA in economics from Bryn Mawr College. She is a Board member of the Coca-Cola Company and a member of the MIT CEO Advisory Board. She is married and has three sons.